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Russian attacks on medical centre kill 6 people in Ukraine's Sumy, minister says
2 successive Russian attacks on a medical centre in Sumy in northeastern Ukraine on Saturday early morning killed 6 people, Ukraine's interior minister stated. The very first attack killed 1 individual and harmed the ceilings of a number of floors of the health center. The evacuation of patients and personnel started, Ihor Klymenko stated on Telegram. As individuals were being left, the Russians struck once again, eliminating a further five individuals, he said. Attacks on Sumy city and the Sumy region have ended up being much more frequent considering that Ukrainian forces launched an operation in Russia's neighbouring Kursk region in August and caught lots of settlements. Sumy city lies simply 32 km (20 miles) from the Russian border and Russian forces have been attacking the area and the city with drones and guided bombs. Klymenko did not define what weapons were used in Saturday's attacks however the local administration said the strike was carried out by drones. Ukrainian air forces earlier on Saturday said its soldiers shot down 69 of 73 drones during an over night Russian attack that included two ballistic and two cruise missiles. About 15 Russian attack drones were damaged by air defences on the borders and in the capital Kyiv, the armed force administration there said.
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Mitsubishi Boosts Stake in Petronas’ Malaysia LNG Plant
Japanese trading house Mitsubishi said on Friday it would expand its ownership in a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Malaysia, acquiring 10% stakes in the Dua and Tiga units of the Malaysia LNG plant.Operated by Malaysian state-owned energy giant Petronas, Malaysia LNG is one of the world's largest LNG facilities, with a total annual capacity of 29.3 million metric tons from four production units - Satu, Dua, Tiga and Train 9.Mitsubishi already owns a 5% stake in the Satu unit and its investments into Dua and Tiga would run for 10 years starting from 2025 and 2024, respectively, the company said.It did not say how much it was paying for the 10% stakes in Dua and Tiga. Japanese newspaper Nikkei, which reported the deal on Thursday, said Mitsubishi was expected to spend several hundred billion yen across the two projects.Petronas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The project is the biggest single LNG facility supplying Japan, delivering 10 million tons a year of the super-chilled fuel, according to Mitsubishi. Japan is the world's second biggest LNG buyer after China.Apart from the LNG stakes, Mitsubishi has also invested in 10 gas blocks in Malaysia and is involved in automobile, food, petrochemicals, metal and steel businesses there.(Reuters - Reporting by Katya Golubkova in Tokyo; Additional reporting by Danial Azhar in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by Sonali Paul)
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China, Brazil press on with Ukraine peace plan despite Zelenskiy's ire
China and Brazil on Friday pressed ahead with an effort to collect developing nations behind a strategy to end Russia's war in Ukraine, in spite of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's termination of the initiative as serving Moscow's interests. Seventeen countries participated in a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly chaired by China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, and Brazilian foreign policy consultant Celso Amorim. Wang told reporters they went over the requirement to prevent escalation in the war, prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction and prevent attacks on nuclear reactor. Russia and Ukraine are next-door neighbors that can not be moved away from each other and amity is the only sensible option, Wang stated, adding that the international community needs to support a. peace conference involving both Russia and Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking later on,. after a meeting with Wang, underscored strong U.S. issues. about China's support for Russia's defense industrial base. Dealing with press reporters, he said that China, while saying. it looks for an end to the Ukraine conflict, is allowing its. companies to act that are in fact assisting Putin. continue the aggressiveness. That doesn't accumulate. Independently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. talked about the conflict in New york city with his Brazilian. counterpart, Maura Vieira, Lavrov's ministry said on its. website. Along with Brazil and China, 10 nations from the Global. South that existed at the 17-nation conference, consisting of. Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey, signed a communique that. Amorim said builds on a six-point plan proposed by Brazil and. China in May. Countries would continue to meet in New york city under a. grouping of pals for peace, he added. Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a no limitations. partnership deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2022,. less than 3 weeks before Russian troops went into Ukraine. Beijing states it has not supplied Russia with weapons for use. in Ukraine, but Western countries say its companies supply. materials that Russia uses in the manufacture of weapons for the. war. Zelenskiy, in a speech to the assembly on Wednesday,. questioned why China and Brazil were proposing an option to. his own peace formula. Proposing options, half-hearted settlement strategies,. so-called sets of principles would just give Moscow the. political area to continue the war, he stated. Inquired about Zelenskiy's comment, Amorim told Reuters, I'm. not here to respond either to Zelenskiy or Putin, simply to. propose a method for peace..
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A minimum of 33 dead as Helene cuts devastating path through southeastern US
Tropical Anxiety Helene brought lifethreatening flooding on Friday to broad sections of the U.S. Southeast, where at least 33 individuals have been eliminated by a storm that overloaded communities, activated mudslides, threatened dams and left more than 4 million homes and services without power. In Tennessee, fears that a dam would stop working near the city of Newport prompted officials to purchase the evacuation of the downtown area. Another dam in North Carolina was on the brink of failure. Before moving north through Georgia and into Tennessee and the Carolinas, Helene struck Florida's Huge Bend region as a. effective Classification 4 cyclone on Thursday at 11:10 p.m. ET (0310. GMT on Friday) packing 140 miles per hour (225 kph) winds. It left behind a. chaotic landscape of overturned boats in harbors, felled trees,. submerged cars and flooded streets. Since early Friday afternoon, the storm had been reduced. to a tropical depression with maximum sustained winds of 35 miles per hour. ( 55 kph), the National Typhoon Center stated. But Helene's heavy rains were still producing devastating. flooding in many areas, with authorities and firefighters bring. out thousands of water saves throughout the affected states. More than 50 people were caught on the roof of a health center. at midday on Friday in Unicoi County, Tennessee, about 120 miles. northeast of Knoxville, as floodwaters overloaded the rural. neighborhood. State authorities later on said those individuals were securely. rescued. Increasing waters from the Nolichucky River were preventing. ambulances and emergency cars from leaving clients and. others there, the Unicoi County Emergency Management Agency stated. on social media. Emergency teams in boats and helicopters were. conducting saves. Somewhere else in Tennessee, Rob Mathis, the mayor of Cocke. County, wrote on social networks that the Walters dam has actually suffered. a disastrous failure which the downtown area of the nearby. city of Newport, with 36,000 people, would evacuate. However, the Tennessee Emergency Management Firm composed on. social networks that the Walters dam, which is located just throughout. state lines in North Carolina, had actually not failed. The agency said. that info came from Duke Energy, which operates the dam. Madison McDonald, a Duke Energy representative, said, we are. aware of the circumstance and we're sorting out the facts. In western North Carolina, Rutherford County emergency. authorities warned residents near the Lake Lure Dam to right away. leave to higher ground, saying Dam failure impending. In neighboring Buncombe County, landslides required interstates 40. and 26 to close, the county said on X. The level of the damage in Florida started emerging after. daybreak. In seaside Steinhatchee, a storm surge - the wall of. seawater pressed ashore by winds - of 8 to 10 feet (2.4-3. meters) moved mobile homes, the NWS stated on X. In Treasure. Island, a barrier island community in Pinellas County, boats. were grounded in front lawns. The city of Tampa published on X that emergency situation workers had. completed 78 water rescues of citizens and that lots of roadways were. blockaded due to the fact that of flooding. The Pasco County sheriff's. workplace rescued more than 65 people over night. Authorities had pleaded with citizens in Helene's path to. hearken evacuation orders, explaining the storm rise as. unsurvivable, as NHC Director Michael Brennan warned. Some citizens had actually stubbornly stayed put. Ken Wood, 58, a state ferry boat operator in Pinellas. County, said he should have followed evacuation orders rather than. riding out the storm at home with his 16-year-old cat, Andy. I'll never ever do that once again, I swear, Wood stated. It was a. harrowing experience. It roared all night like a train. It was. unnerving. Your house shook. Down the hill from his house, the storm flooded some homes. with chest-deep seawater. One home ignited and burned. down, shooting 30-foot flames in the stormy sky, he stated. Old Andy appeared like he didn't care, Wood stated. He did. fine. However next time we leave. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said first responders. were unable to respond to a number of emergency calls from citizens. overnight due to the conditions. On Friday, county authorities. found at least 5 individuals dead. Two other individuals in Florida died, Governor Ron DeSantis. validated. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp cited 11 storm-related. fatalities in his state so far, while North Carolina Guv. Roy Cooper stated there had actually been 2 deaths there. At least 13 individuals had died during the storm throughout South. Carolina, the Charleston-based Post and Carrier newspaper. reported, citing local authorities. Helene was uncommonly large for a Gulf hurricane, forecasters. stated, though a storm's size is not the same as its strength,. which is based on optimum continual wind speeds. A couple of hours before landfall, Helene's tropical-storm winds. extended outward 310 miles (500 km), according to the National. Typhoon Center. By comparison, Idalia, another significant typhoon. that struck Florida's Huge Bend region in 2015, had. tropical-storm winds extending 160 miles (260 km) about eight. hours before it made landfall. More than 4.6 million homes and services lacked. power midday on Friday in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and. other states, according to the tracking website Poweroutage.us.
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Peru is 'losing the battle' against arranged crime, service groups state
Peru's service associations said on Friday that the country is losing the battle versus organized criminal activity, after an escalation in extortions required the federal government to contact the military to help cops boost security in the capital Lima. The Andean nation's federal government on Thursday stated a 60-day state of emergency situation in 12 districts of Lima after bus chauffeurs in the city went on strike, demanding higher defense from authorities due to a wave of extortion and attacks. On Friday, it included two more districts. We live under siege from arranged criminal offense which has actually taken control of the country in the alarming lack of the state, more than 20 trade associations stated in a joint statement. The organizations vary from industry and commerce to import-export firms, dining establishments and even beauty parlor. None of our activities, no matter size or sector, is safe from extortion, they said. The business groups said arranged criminal activity is being compounded by the fortifying of financial activities operating exterior the law, such as unlawful mining, which they say has penetrated politics. Mining business have actually reported duplicated deadly attacks on their installations by armed men they say are connected to prohibited miners. The state of emergency situation, which suspends some people' rights associated to free transit, comes amidst pressure from the opposition and civil society for more steps to fight criminal offense as it threatens the country's economy.
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Southern Co shuts Georgia atomic power plant in wake of typhoon
Southern Company took one nuclear reactor offline and decreased output from another at its Hatch plant in Georgia after Typhoon Helene harmed the area's electrical grid, the business informed Reuters on Friday. The nuclear plant, which is jointly owned by Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power Corporation,. Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and Dalton Utilities,. was not considerably harmed by the hurricane, the company. stated. However, the power grid experienced significant damage from. the storm and, to maintain grid stability, we changed. operations at Plant Hatch, Georgia Power representative John. Kraft stated. System 1 was taken offline and System 2 is running at. reduced power, Kraft said. The business did not divulge a. timeline for bring back complete operations. Our broader generation fleet is totally capable of. satisfying the power demands of our consumers, Kraft stated. Since Friday night, Helene had actually knocked out power to. more than 3.5 million homes and businesses in the U.S. Southeast, including about 900,000 in Georgia.
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S&P upgrades Oman's score to 'BBB-' on ongoing development of public financial resources
Credit rankings agency S&P Global upgraded Oman's score to BBB from BB+ on Friday, banking on continued strengthening of the nation's public financial resources. The firm also said Oman's outlook on long-lasting rankings is stable, considering the gain from its economic reforms against the impact of adverse oil cost shocks. Oman's financial position remains extremely depending on oil price movements, however resilience versus shocks has strengthened, S&P stated. During early May, the International Monetary Fund stated that Oman's near- to medium-term outlook agrees with, banking on lower oil rates and ongoing structural reforms over the medium term. S&P stated it is optimistic on Oman's ratings over the next 2 years if reforms generate a consistent growth backed by continued momentum in its non-oil economy. The scores company anticipates the federal government's financial and economic reform momentum will go on over 2024-2027 offered there is ongoing reduction in external debt levels and build-up of liquid properties. Last week, Oman's central bank cut its repo rate by 50 basis indicate 5.5% - in line with other Gulf central banks matching the U.S. fed rate cut. S&P prepares for that the Reserve bank of Oman will continue following the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate of interest policy. It also expects Oman will maintain its currency peg, supported by its accumulated government external possessions of about 30% of GDP.
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Mali junta arrests four workers of Barrick Gold, say sources
Mali's militaryled authorities have detained four employees of Canadian miner Barrick Gold, two sources stated on Friday. All 4 are senior Malian employees, among the sources said. Barrick is the world's second-largest gold miner and among Mali's top gold manufacturers, however like other international miners it has actually been under growing pressure in the West African country given that a junta took power in 2020. A federal government authorities based in the area and speaking on condition of anonymity stated 4 Barrick workers had actually been arrested for alleged monetary criminal offenses. Barrick decreased to comment. The Malian authorities could not right away be reached for comment. A second source, who operates in the Malian mining sector, said the four people were arrested on Wednesday and were senior Malian staff members at Barrick. Mali is among Africa's most significant gold producers and the junta has actually looked for to channel a higher share of gold earnings to state coffers consisting of by means of a new mining code that permits the federal government to increase its ownership of gold concessions. Its shake-up of the sector becomes part of a broader policy shift that has actually seen the authorities cut off long-standing ties with Western allies such as France and look for closer diplomatic, security, and business relations with Russia. In 2015, Mali signed an agreement with Russia to develop a. gold refinery in the capital Bamako and reached a handle. Russian state atomic energy business Rosatom to check out for. minerals and produce atomic energy.
United States southeast deals with difficult task tidying up from Helene; death toll increases
Authorities across a wide swath of the southeastern United States dealt with the challenging task on Saturday of cleaning up from Typhoon Helene, one of the most powerful to hit the nation, as the death toll continued to increase.
At least 43 deaths were reported by late on Friday, and authorities feared still more bodies would be found throughout numerous states.
Helene, reduced late on Friday to a post-tropical cyclone, continued to produce heavy rains across a number of states, stimulating dangerous flooding that threatened to create dam failures that could swamp whole towns.
In Florida's Pinellas County near Tampa, Constable Bob Gualtieri said he had never seen damage like that which Helene wrought. I would simply describe it, having invested the last couple of hours out there, as a battle zone, Gualtieri informed a press conference.
At least 3.5 million clients remained without power throughout five states, with authorities cautioning it could be a number of days before services were completely restored.
Scientists say environment modification contributes to fueling stronger, more damaging cyclones.
Before moving north through Georgia and into Tennessee and the Carolinas, Helene struck Florida's Huge Bend region as a. powerful Classification 4 cyclone on Thursday night, packing 140 mph. ( 225 kph) winds. It left a disorderly landscape of. reversed boats in harbors, dropped trees, submerged cars and. flooded streets.
Cops and firemens carried out thousands of water. rescues throughout the affected states on Friday.
More than 50 people were saved from the roofing of a medical facility. in Unicoi County, Tennessee, about 120 miles (200 km) northeast. of Knoxville, state officials stated, after floodwaters swamped. the rural neighborhood.
Rising waters from the Nolichucky River avoided ambulances. and emergency lorries from leaving clients and others. there, the Unicoi County Emergency situation Management Agency stated on. social media. Emergency teams in boats and helicopters were. performing saves.
Somewhere else in Tennessee, Rob Mathis, the mayor of Cocke. County, ordered the evacuation of downtown Newport because of a. prospective failure at the nearby Walters dam.
In western North Carolina, Rutherford County emergency situation. officials alerted residents near the Lake Tempt Dam that it might. fail, although they stated late on Friday that failure did not. appear imminent.
In neighboring Buncombe County, landslides required interstates 40. and 26 to close, the county stated on X.
WAKING TO DISASTER
The degree of the damage in Florida started emerging after. daybreak on Friday.
In seaside Steinhatchee, a storm surge - a wall of seawater. pushed ashore by winds - of eight to 10 feet (2.4-3 meters). moved mobile homes, the National Weather Service said on X. In. Treasure Island, a barrier island neighborhood in Pinellas County,. boats were grounded in front yards.
The city of Tampa posted on X that emergency workers had. finished 78 water rescues of locals which numerous roads were. impassable due to the fact that of flooding. The Pasco County sheriff's. office saved more than 65 people.
Officials had actually pleaded with citizens in Helene's course to. follow evacuation orders, with National Typhoon Center Director. Michael Brennan describing the storm surge as unsurvivable.
Gualtieri, the Pinellas County sheriff, stated the conditions. prevented very first responders from addressing a number of emergency situation. calls. On Friday, county authorities found a minimum of five individuals. dead.
Two others in Florida passed away, stated Guv Ron DeSantis. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's workplace reported 15 storm-related. fatalities in that state, while North Carolina Governor Roy. Cooper stated there had been 2 deaths there.
At least 19 people died during the storm across South. Carolina, the Charleston-based Post and Courier newspaper. reported, mentioning local authorities.
(source: Reuters)